"Josh" Laughery was told by his dad, a Vietnam veteran, "no John Wayne stuff." But he became a hero.

"Josh" Laughery was told by his dad, a Vietnam veteran, "no John Wayne stuff." But he became a hero.

Houston soldier to receive Silver Star for heroics in Afghanistan

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Sgt. M. Joshua Laughery couldn't make out anything in the pitch-black cellar until a Taliban fighter suddenly charged out of the darkness, firing his AK-47.

"I could see the whites of his eyes," Laughery said. The cellar exploded with gunfire, lighting up the gloom with muzzle flashes.

The 27-year-old soldier from Houston still doesn't know how he survived the underground shootout in Afghanistan's Wardak province last year. "It's magic," he said.

Laughery's actions that day helped save the lives of his fellow soldiers, five of whom lay wounded outside the cellar in the aftermath of an ambush. For his bravery, Laughery will be awarded a Silver Star, the military's third-highest decoration for valor in combat. The official citation praises Laughery's "extreme courage and aggressiveness, with incredible courage under fire."

Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Army chief of staff, will present the medal to Laughery in a ceremony at Fort Polk in Louisiana on Tuesday.

Windfern High grad

"It's not an award that I earned by myself," Laughery told the Houston Chronicle by telephone from Fort Polk on Thursday. "My guys helped. It was definitely a group effort. It wasn't just me. … If I could, I'd split it up and give it to all my guys."

Laughery is a 2003 graduate of Windfern High School in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. He serves as a squad leader in a heavy weapons platoon with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry, at Fort Polk. The 4th Infantry is part of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

Laughery was on patrol in an Afghan village on Sept. 12 when his squad came under heavy fire from insurgents. Laughery was a corporal at the time.

The squad cornered the insurgents in an underground cellar complex, according to the citation. As the soldiers prepared to go inside, one of the insurgents ran toward the Americans, firing his AK-47 at close range. He collided with Laughery's platoon sergeant and detonated a grenade.

In the aftermath of the blast, Laughery realized that all his squad and platoon leaders had been incapacitated by injuries. Wounds suffered by two of the soldiers - a medic and section sergeant - were life-threatening.

Laughery directed another soldier to take his place as gunner, started medical evacuation procedures, and reorganized his squad, according to a statement from Fort Polk.

"Laughery engaged the insurgents and held them at bay until relief arrived," the statement reads. "His actions resulted in the survival and extraction of every soldier on his patrol, including the five wounded by insurgents."

The pitched battle lasted about 25 minutes, Laughery said. Twice, he and another soldier, Spc. John Penilton, ran into the dark cellar to root out insurgents hiding there.

"We went down in the hole and engaged these dudes almost at point-blank range," Laughery said. He killed one Taliban fighter from less than 4 feet away. When all the insurgents in the complex were dead, his team evacuated to a combat outpost.

Later, Laughery was stunned when he found out he had been recommended for the Silver Star. He just did what he had to do to save his friends, he said.

"I think you just know what you need to do because if you freeze up they could die," he said. "There was no freezing up."

Also served in Iraq

Laughery, a Houston native who goes by "Josh," previously served two tours in Iraq. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Ashley. The couple have two daughters, Malayna, 8, and Jordan, 5.

"It gives me butterflies, and I don't know what to say," said Laughery's mother, Helaine Abramson of Houston."He's an only child, and he's the absolute light of my life."

Abramson said she cried when she learned her son had enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school, but she understands his decision.

"I just know that he knew what he needed to do and what he was cut out for, and I'm so proud of him and his commitment and what he did," she said. "What he does over there is always all about his guys, and that just melts my heart."

Laughery's father, Vietnam veteran Christopher Laughery of Humble, said he would have preferred that his son hadn't taken such terrible risks, but he isn't surprised.

"He didn't do what I told him to do," he said. "I told him no John Wayne stuff. I'd rather have him home alive. But he did what he should have done. ... I'm extremely proud of him."

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